Small Packages
by PaBurke
Summary: Oz meets the Pack. The Pack meets Buffy.


Small Packages

by PaBurke

*** Summary *** Oz meets the Pack. The Pack meets Buffy.

*** Spoilers *** Season 7 Buffy, the book 'Oz; Into the Wild' by Christopher Golden. I'm saying that Willow took Oz back when he returned from Tibet, Buffy is with Spike, Xander is with Anya. Tara is just a nice Wicca friend, nothing more. This crossover takes place after the book 'Bitten' By Kelley Armstrong finishes. It's the absolute best book I've read about were-wolves. Go read it. I would advise most anyone to just buy it. It's that good. I don't do it justice.

If you are severely deprived and never read 'Bitten', here is a brief character and terminology synopsis. Jeremy is Pack Alpha and a hereditary wolf. Clayton, AKA Clay, was bitten before the age of seven and went feral before Jeremy caught and attempted to civilize him, emphasis on the word attempted. Clay is considered to be Jeremy's adopted son of sorts and is the enforcer for any trouble. Elena is Clay's mate. When they were engaged, Clay bit her to prevent Jeremy from sending her away. Then followed the most torrent ten-year hate/love/hate relationship ever. Elena is the only female were-wolf that the Pack knows about in recent history. During the course of the book, the Pack lost a quarter of its members. A mutt is any were-wolf not part of the Pack. Mutts are not tolerated.

*** Disclaimer *** I'm playing with someone else's toys.

*** Warning *** Gratuitous violence.

*** Distribution *** Twisting the Hellmouth, The Nook

And finally the story . . .

***

Elena smelled the mutt a minute before Clay. She waited quietly for his nose to catch up with hers. At first she could not believe the gall. The mutt did not smell like Marsten. Karl Marsten was the only mutt that would dare trespass the Pack's home territory of New York for something like a concert and Marsten would probably consider himself above the punk genre.

So the mutt was young and cocky. With the way Clay's temper was spiraling out of control, the mutt would soon be dead. Clay's forever tan, blond curls, and muscular body made him look like a surfer. His glare made him look like a surfer even the sharks avoided. Humans with any sort of survival instinct cleared out of Clay's way. Elena simply had to follow in his wake as he stomped toward the source of the scent.

The mutt was easy to find. He was coming in from the parking lot with a petite blond. From the repeat scents, he had probably made the trip three times. He was short, 5'3" and fair. Even Elena towered over the young man. She mentally catalogued him for the dossiers just in case he survived.

He caught their scent, looked their way and nodded. Elena saw the flash of recognition, but no shock or fear. This was one cool customer. The blond was still chatting cheerfully about some recent purchase when Clay grabbed the mutt's arm and pulled him behind a nearby building. Elena glanced around; there were no witnesses if Clayton was quiet.

"Get outta town," he growled.

The mutt looked at Clay curiously, but the girl tore Clay's hand away. "Hey Grumpy, we're here for a night out. If you want your butt swatted with newspaper, wait until after the concert."

Clay shook off the human's grip. "This isn't your concern, little girl."

"Little Girl?" The blond sounded severely insulted. She started poking Clayton in the chest. "LITTLE GIRL?!?" Elena smirked; after all, the human was even shorter than the mutt.

Elena glanced at the mutt while she was thinking about it. His eyes were wide and he took a step away from Clay and the blond. Wasn't it just like a mutt to leave his meal to the mercy of another were-wolf?

The mutt cleared his throat. "Ah, Buffy. The concert starts in ten minutes."

The blond nodded and shoved Clay back a step. "Which is why I am not going to give him a thorough thrashing like he deserves." She glared up at Clayton. "You're going to have to have some broken bones."

Clay did not even reply. He lifted his right arm to backhand the mouthy woman and swung. Elena was expecting the body to go flying back five to ten feet. She was not expecting the tiny blond to catch the hand in mid-swing, twist, and transfer the momentum. The forearm broke instantly. Clay tried to lunge toward the girl and her foot met squarely with his jaw. This sound was more like a crunch.

Clay swung with his left arm. She dodged, turned, grabbed the arm and flipped Clayton onto his back. Elena heard another bone break. Clayton's left leg was at an unnatural angle. Elena stepped in to intervene and the blond stepped back.

She addressed Elena. "It's generally a good idea to house break them before taking them out into public."

Elena eyed the blond suspiciously. The fight had lasted less than a minute and Clayton had lost. With all the comments, Elena guessed that the girl knew about were-wolves and could somehow identify them. She could certainly fight them.

The mutt was talking. "You want help carrying him to the car?"

Elena was surprised, then cautious. "No hard feelings?"

The mutt shook his head. "Nah, I was unexpected."

Elena dug out Clay's keys from his coat pocket. Clay was growling something negative and Elena ignored him. "It's a red Boxster. Row 4E." She tossed the keys to the blond. The mutt stepped in front of her and caught them.

He grinned slightly at the blond. "Trashing him is one thing. Trashing his car is quite another."

"Hey." The blond playfully pushed the mutt. "I'm not that bad of a driver."

The mutt grinned in reply and walked away without a backward glance.

"I'm not, really." The blond wanted Elena to believe her.

Elena tried to be consoling. "I'm sure you're not."

She had not been very convincing. The blond shrugged. "Just because he was in the car during the band candy incident does not mean he can be a good judge of my driving abilities. And that was years ago."

Clay groaned. Elena was very concerned that he allowed the blond to see his pain.

The blond gently toed Clay. "You're very lucky I was with Oz instead of Willow this trip to the car. You would have been one crispy wolfy. She's protective of her boyfriend."

Two powerful females were knowingly protecting a mutt. Elena was scared for the Pack. "You going to be around for long?" she asked.

Blondie shook her head. "Nah, we were just here to pick up some packages and decided to hit a concert while we were in town. Normally we keep to the West Coast."

"And Oz?" Elena was tentative about the mutt's name.

Blondie shrugged. "He follows Willow most of the time."

Elena knelt next to Clay and examined his injuries. The girl surely did a number on Clay.

"I'm glad you're not a skanky ho like the last one."

Elena's head shot up. "Excuse me?"

Blondie shrugged. "Just sayin'. The last girl-wolfy we ran into was a skanky-ho boyfriend stealer."

Elena was surprised. "What happened to her?"

Blondie's attention was drawn to Clay's sport's car that Oz was driving up. "I_Nice car_./I Oh, skanky-wolf? Oz killed her." She answered absentmindedly. "She was trying to kill Willow."

Elena pulled Clay to his feet and threaded his good arm around her body. She started to walk him to the car. Blondie bounced along beside Elena.

"You know," she smirked. "If he promises not to bite, I could carry him."

Clay growled low in his throat.

Elena translated. "That probably wouldn't be a great idea."

Blondie bounded ahead and opened the passenger door for the couple. Elena tried to gently put Clayton in the seat. By his groans, she was less than successful. Once Clay was settled, Elena stepped back.

Blondie patted Clay on the head. "Never call me little."

Oz tossed the keys back to Elena. "She's sensitive about it."

Elena hurried to the driver's side and slid in. Oz and Blondie waved as she pulled out. "The size and temperament of those two kids are deceptive. They are dangerous."

Clay growled his agreement. Elena broke every speed limit on the way to the house. She needed to get Clayton to Jeremy as fast as possible. The Pack was in trouble.

***

Spike leaned over. "Everything okay?" He asked above the music.

Buffy nodded. "Had to take a little wolf to the back shed."

Spike wrapped his arm around his girl. "Glad it wasn't too strenuous."

"It wasn't."

***


End file.
